In Tow For The Holidays

Happy Campers And Rvs Roll Into Parks.

Four years ago, Jamie and Madeline Crusher did what many people dream about but few have the courage to do.

The sold everything - the house, the furniture, the gardening equipment and tools in the garage - and became rolling stones.

"The kids were grown and we were rattling around in a big house in Pennsylvania," said Jamie Crusher, 68, a retired electrical engineer. "The holidays were going to be lonely, so we decided to hit the blue highways."

The blue highways are roads so small they are marked in blue in the map. Those roads, and a trusty $40,000 40-foot Winnebago, have allowed the couple to visit 49 states, Mexico and Canada.

"We'd go to Hawaii, if the damn thing would float," Jamie Crusher said of his Winnebego, nicknamed Philadelphia Story.

Last week, Philadelphia Story, with a Ford Escort in tow, pulled into Markham Park in Sunrise.

The couple were among hundreds of retirees and families who drove recreational vehicles to Broward County parks and planned to camp out through the holidays.

"It is a wonderful life. It really is," said Madeline Crusher, who acknowledged she initially was frightened by the idea of a home on wheels. "It takes a while to get used the smaller space. But you do."

Madeline Crusher said she's amazed by the people she frequently meets on the road.

"Each year you see people you haven't seen since last Christmas, and you share stories on where you've been and what you've seen," she said. "You get ideas on where to go next."

Phildelphia Story and other RVs were decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments, injecting holiday spirit into the five Broward County parks where camping is available.

By midweek last week, while Markham Park was only partially full, C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines was already bustling with activity. People jogged, played tennis, hiked, rented boats and picnicked.

"The park comes alive just about sunrise. I think people think RV types sit around drinking beer and getting fat," said Bart Webber, 50, of Montreal, as he finished running a few laps around the park. "That might be true of some folks, but generally we're an active bunch."

Webber has relatives who live in South Florida, and he planned to celebrate Christmas with them.

"We'll be visiting people in a real house. But we'll visit at the park, too," he said.

Dan Cuthbert, park manager at C.B. Smith, said the people who spend the holidays at the 71-campsite park are generally a cordial bunch.

"People come here year after year, so they tend to know each other," he said.

For that reason, becoming a Christmas camper in Broward isn't easy.

"We take reservations a year in advance, and we're pretty much filled a year in advance," Cuthbert said.

"We get people from all over the world," said Jerry Gust, manager of Topeekeegee-Yugnee Park in Hollywood, which also has no vacancies.

Broward parks charge $18 a night for a campsite with water, electricity and sewer hookup, and $17 for sites without sewer hookup.

Among the international campers who paid the $17 fee was Edmund Napp of Germany, who had the misfortune of sitting out Wednesday's rains in a tent at Markham Park.

"It was so wet. I was dry, OK, but the rain outside would not stop," he said. "People worry about getting murdered in Florida. Your rain is murder."